Froch vs Groves rematch: George Groves loses appeal, will only get 15% of potential purse bid

With a purse bid due soon if an agreement cannot be reached by February 4, George Groves lost an appeal with the IBF to be guaranteed better than the standard 85-15 split for champion and challenger should he face Carl Froch in an IBF-ordered rematch, as it's expected he will.

Groves (19-1, 15 KO) was controversially stopped by Froch (32-2, 23 KO) on November 23, and Eddie Hearn is now working hard to get a deal done for a stadium rematch in the United Kingdom. The IBF felt the job done by referee Howard John Foster was poor enough to order a rare immediate title rematch, but could not see compelling evidence, it would appear, that Groves deserves more money than he would receive in any other standard purse bid split.

In reality, which sanctioning bodies tend to avoid at all costs (though to be fair, the IBF is probably the most consistent of the lot), Groves deserves a good bit more than 15% of a split, because he's got a fan base and his performance in November is a big reason that this rematch has as much buzz as it does. Hearn has said he believes that they'll need "at least" 60,000 seats for the rematch, so he's obviously expecting huge business.

Whether or not this means that Froch has any reason to even consider not going to a purse bid isn't totally clear, though. If Hearn can offer him better money even outside of the 85-15 split, then the fight should get done that way. But it certainly seems it would make it tougher on Eddie to convince Carl to sign the fight without the bid.